in a letter, though, 15 republican senators urged for hagel to withdraw his nomination. on that list included marco rubio and ted cruz. it reads in part, while we respect senator hagel's honorable military service, we respectfully request you withdraw his nomination. it would be unprecedented for a secretary of defense to take office without the broad base of bipartisan support and confidence needed to serve effectively in this critical position. ted cruz added, quote, in the last 50 years, no other secretary of defense has been confirmed with more than three members voting against him, and in the entire history of the position, no one has been confirmed with more than 11 no votes, end quote. still, hagel got support from former senator bob dole, who called him an exceptional leader, and senator richard shelby of alabama. it was kind of an underwhelming vote of confidence. shelby said, quote, he's probably as good as we're going to get, end quote. the senate returns from recess next week. >>> there are some new numbers out this morning that could impact the debate over g